Lent is here: A refresher on these 40 days

By Bill Doyle
CFP Correspondent

When they’re young, Catholics learn about Lent at Mass, in religion classes at Catholic schools or in religious education classes at their parishes.

Many Catholics continue to practice Lenten regulations, but if you need a refresher course, here it is.

Father Alfredo R. Porras is director of the Office for Divine Worship in the Diocese of Worcester and each year he distributes Lenten regulations to the parishes in the diocese.

So, what is Lent really all about?

“It may sound obvious, but Lent is a preparation for Easter,” Father Porras said, “and it’s the 40 days before Easter in which the Church intentionally enters into a period of penance, prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But why do we do that? It’s because Easter is the celebration of the sacrament. So Lent in itself is always a preparation for the celebration of the sacrament.”

Following the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Lent began being practiced as 40 days of fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

Father Porras pointed out that at first Lent prepared catechumens, who are converts into Christianity, to be received into the church and to receive their sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation and Communion. To receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil, they are prepared through penance and the community praying for them.

Adults who choose to enter the Catholic faith must enroll in a program called the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.

Another main influence in the development of Lent was to prepare through penitence Christians who had committed some grave sin to be readmitted into celebrating the sacraments.

“As the Church continues to celebrate,” Father Porras said, “we notice it’s good for all of us to enter into that preparation so we can all better prepare to receive the sacraments at Easter.”
Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon words “lencten” for spring and “lenctentid” for spring and March, the month in which most of Lent falls.

Lent lasts 40 days, the amount of time that Jesus spent in the desert fasting, praying and being tempted by the devil. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts until the evening of Holy Thursday. Fasting and abstinence are not required on the six Sundays during Lent.

“I think a lot of people understand Lent as, if they even know it’s 40 days, 40 days in which they take up some kind of fast,” Father Porras said. “Maybe some people do make the connection with Easter because Lent comes right before Holy Week, but sometimes it’s worth stating the obvious.”

Catholics aged 14 and older must abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent. Catholics aged 18-58 must fast by eating only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal are permitted if necessary to maintain strength but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of Jesus and to prepare to share more fully and to celebrate his resurrection more readily, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Church also encourages individuals to undertake the practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, the latter of which is donating money, goods, time or skills to those in need.
“One of the things they do is fight against our sinfulness,” Father Porras said. “Prayer orders us to lift our hearts and minds to God, which is the ultimate reason for everything.

“Almsgiving forces us to let go of something for the sake of someone else, to notice someone else’s needs and to not focus on ourselves so much. And then, fasting in itself, is actually letting go of those things that, even though they may be good in and of themselves, we recognize that are not what ultimately satisfy us and we allow that hunger that is caused by fasting to be the reminder of the good things that God has prepared for us.”

Catholics are called upon to give up something for Lent, but instead they could choose to do something positive, such as praying more and being more compassionate towards others.
“People have different reasons why they do the fasting,” Father Porras said. “Some people do it because they want to lose weight. Some people do it because they think it’s going to make them stronger. That’s not totally untrue, but that’s not the main reason we fast. The main reason why we fast is to prepare to receive something better, which is the sacraments.”

As director of the Office for Divine Worship, Father Porras assists Bishop McManus and parish priests with their liturgies. An example of that was distributing the Lenten regulations. Father Porras also serves as chaplain to Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Easter, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, and Christmas, the day he was born, are the two most holy days.

“I guess in some ways we can say that Easter is more important,” Father Porras said, “because the resurrection is kind of crucial, but you can’t have one without the other.”

Some Catholics attend Mass on Christmas and Easter, but not regularly otherwise.

“Maybe they don’t go to Mass every Sunday,” Father Porras said, “but you see it every year where the numbers go up on those particular feast days. So, I do think people still have a sense that Easter is an important feast.”

Do Catholics follow the regulations of Lent as much as they once did?

“We can all do better,” Father Porras said. “We can always do better.”